An early, wintry blast of ice and snow hit Cecil County just before noon this Sunday, a couple of hours before the Flight 214 Remembrance Program started. The intensity of the storm caught weather forecasters off guard and by afternoon heavy snow was falling and at 7:45 p.m. Mt. Holly Weather reported that nearly 8-inches of snow had accumulated in Elkton.
The heavy snowfall caused numerous accidents on treacherous roadways and traffic was stuck on the two railroad overpasses in the center of Elkton by noon. But the event went on as over 120 family members had traveled from all across the nation. Thus the hosts, the Singerly Fire Company and Historical Society of Cecil County, went ahead with the schedule as many of the family members, having traveled long distances, were already in the Elkton area.
Late this afternoon the Singerly Fire Company issued the following statement: “We would like to thank everyone who participated in the Pan Am Flight 214 Remembrance ceremonies this weekend. Despite the inclement weather, everything went well and the remembrance ceremony was all that we hoped it would be. To those family members who are traveling tonight and tomorrow, we wish you a safe trip home and hope that you will keep in touch with us.”
But the dangerous traveling conditions caused many local people to miss the program. So we are sharing one of the video clips from this afternoon. This is 88-year-old Chief Thomas N. McIntire, Jr., talking about answering the alarm that stormy December night 50 years ago this evening. At the time Chief McIntire was the Elkton Police Chief and the Assistant Fire Chief with Singerly. In the segment, he recalled that unforgettable scene a half-century ago. In the next week or so the fire company will stream some other materials related to the event.